Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Du Juan has been on every issue of China Vogue since June 2008 -- that translates to 5 consecutive months of model domination in that magazine. As much as I love Du Juan, I feel that China Vogue needs to expand its gene pool to include other Asian models, including the non-Chinese girls. Granted, it has featured Ai Tominaga (March 2008), Han Jin and Eugenia Mandzhieva (March 2008) and Juliana Imai (January 2008) but there are many more Asian girls in the world than just Chinese girls. Ditto with Vogue Nippon and Korea Vogue. I think Vogue Nippon and Korea Vogue rarely use other Asian girls except those of their own nationality.

That said, this editorial with Du Juan and Emma Pei shot on the streets of New York City for China Vogue, September 2008 is simply amazing. The clothes are spectacular (BRAVO to the stylist) and the city vibe is breathtakingly real. These photos make DKNY's old ad campaigns look almost amateurish -- DKNY is famous for using New York streets as the background for its ads.

Du Juan is great here as usual but Emma Pei blows me away. She is spotting so many moods and looks here that I feel like I'm seeing three different Emmas in this editorial -- my favorite being EVIL EMMA in Photo #9. Love her death stare!! I am terribly disappointed she is not doing any shows in NY, Milan or Paris this year. Does anyone know why she's missing?

N.B.: This is one of my favorite editorials this year. Am soooo loving the New York scene.

Monday, September 29, 2008

This editorial from China Vogue's October 2008 issue shows a very different side of Du Juan. Unfortunately, it is not the most exciting editorial by her. In fact, it is mediocre at best. The editorial is still highly stylized (complicated poses) but not as conceptual as the other high fashion shoots we've seen her done.

The look they have given her here is softer, sexier and very sultry. The hair stylist did a great job giving her bangs (is that a wig or did they cut her hair?) and setting them loose with the wind machine. However, if it wasn't for the new hair do, I would not have given this editorial a second look.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

It seems like Gwen Lu has been booking better and better jobs lately. First, there was the editorial for V Magazine in the July/August 2008 issue featuring Elite Agency's top editorial models -- granted, that was more of a promo for Elite than a real editorial job but it got her some face time in the highly respected magazine. Then she booked an ad campaign with Uniqlo (Fall 2008/Winter 2009) and an editorial in one of the top fashion catalogs in the country, Nordstrom (September 2008). Now she is in Elle Accessories, Fall 2008 -- the sister publication of US Elle Magazine. And she has only been in NYC (and the international market) for 9 months. Not too shabby, if you think about it. Not everyone can be a superstar model like Du Juan or Hye Park.

Rila Fukushima, on the other hand, has been working in NYC since she was discovered by Steven Klein and added to the cast of D&G's Spring/Summer 2004 ad campaign. Supposedly, her hair was dyed blond for that job and it all fell out shortly after the shoot. But she kept the blond locks and it became her signiture look. Her last major appearances have been in ad campaigns for Vera Wang's SimplyVera and Belvedere Vodka, both in Fall 2007/Winter 2008.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Ling Tan, one of the first Asian models to make it big in the international fashion scene, has a stunning editorial shot in Bhutan for the October 2008 issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine. She was undeniably one of two most prolific Asian girls (the other being Russian model, Irina Pantaeva) working in the late 1990s, appearing in numerous ad campaigns including Emporio Armani (perfume ad), Prescriptives (cosmetics ad), Ford Edge (TV commercial), Banana Republic, GAP, Old Navy, Guess and a host of others; there was also a music video for George Michael (Fast Love).

Ling Tan was the Han Jin of her time, walking in more runways shows than most models did during Fashion Week in NYC, Paris and Milan. According to Fashion Model Directory, she clocked in over 30+ shows in Fall 1997/Winter 1998 and Spring/Summer 1998, walking for top designers like Gucci, Fendi, Chanel, Dior, YSL and Valentino.

Prior to Ling Tan and Irina Pantaeva, there was Anna Bayle from the Philippines who walked almost exclusively on runways for Europe designers in the early-to-mid-1980s. But back then runway models rarely crossover to magazine editorials or ad campaigns and vice versa. The trend started with Gianni Versace in the late 1980s when he began using editorial darlings like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington on his runway shows, thereby creating a frenzy over the girls and initiated the phenomenon known as, (gasp) supermodels.

Back to this editorial with Ling Tan for Condé Nast Traveler. I know someone will say, "Oh! There we go again -- another editorial with an Asian girl wearing Asian-inspired clothes shot on location in Asia!" Rightfully so, this is a bit cliché-ish, to say the least but would it be any different if they had used Linda Evangelista in this shoot instead of Ling Tan? [I use Linda E. as an example because she was the go-to-girl for many Asian-inspired editorials shot in Bali, Thailand, China, India, etc. for Vogue.]

Here is Part II of the Olympic-themed editorial from China Harper's Bazaar, September 2008 issue. The first set of photos has Du Juan and Emma Pei demonstrating the different sport events competed at the Olympic Games recently while the second set has Du Juan, Emma Pei and Zhang Xue looking 'dirty and sexy' in blank sand.

The photographer, Chen Zhun did an amazing job on this editorial. It is obvious that China Harper's Bazaar spared not expenses on these shoots and a fair amount of planning and budget went into the project. Just from the number of clothing and set changes, I suspect these photo shoots took days to complete. So is China Harper's Bazaar trying to steal the thunder from China Vogue, which came out with a s0-so issue for September 2008.